Paradise: 8 days on Railay

July 15th, 2008 - Railay Island, Krabi, Thailand

Railay was one of the most beautiful, and certainly the most relaxing place I have ever been in my life. No cars are on the island, and so subsequently there aren't any roads. Although the island is still being developed as a tourist location, its pretty bare right now. Its a small island, and you tend to meet the same people day after day, on the beach and at dinner, at the bar and while climbing. To get onto the island you have to wade ashore (if its high tide) or walk along a sandbar (if its low tide). Guess which one I ended up with...


You get to and from the island in these little motorized 'long-tail' boats, which are cute in their size and shape but scary in their tendency to tip and sink when any amount of weight is added onto them.

They are, however, really colorful and actually change depending on the owner's whim, as new colors are painted on or added via the tarps and coverings.

No matter what kind of a ride is necessary to get to the island though, the beachs are worth it. If I had to wade through water, run a couple miles, and crawl through some ant-infested tunnel or something, it would be worth it. Check it out below:


This was just one of 3 beautiful beaches that you can get too easily on the island. On good days, I can't imagine many places nicer in the world. The water is warm and crystal clear, surrounded by cliffs and rock formations, and inhabited by monkeys leaping too and fro.


I spent whole days at the beach, lieing on the sand, juggling, swimming in the water and throwing my frisbee. I talked to people for hours, played soccer with them, or just passed the time chatting with anyone who looked interested. On the down side, all of this beach going resulted in my first burn and peel of my entire life. I didn't put on sunscreen for the first day I was on the beach, and was subsequently nicknamed 'Mr. Red Breast' by a group of Germans.

There was a lot to do on the island beyond beaching though. I went out kayaking with a friend, took the cooking course I've discussed in a previous blog post, and climbed and bouldered. I had a lot of fun climbing, and its a great work out. So i'm going to try to get into it now that I'm back here in Chicago, and the gym I want to join has a great climbing wall. We'll see how that goes, but hopefully I can keep it up.

Another activity popular with people visiting Railay is to try to climb to the "Lagoon". This is basically a small lake set deep inside the mountains, up some hills and down some treacherous terrain, about 300 meters deep. Another American and I decided to try to tackle it one morning, with mixed results. It was a lot of fun and it was great to hang out with someone, but the hike/climb itself was a lot trickier than we thought. You had to use a rope to abseil down slippery rock faces, slide down the mountainside with very little support and generally contemplate your own mortality every couple of minutes. Despite the smiling picture below, I was a bit freaked out.


At the end of our climb, Adam and I faced a 10-15 foot sheer drop with some annoying looking rocks below, with only a slippery rope to support us. After coming about 290 meters in red clay, mud, and bugs we turned back. We did have a great time though, and it was worth it in the end.

Otherwise on the island, I spent my nights with the various people I met and traveling with, rotating between a number of bars and night spots. For a while my favorite spot was the Bamboo Bar, which opened up to the beach and had futons you could relax into while you drank and talked. Then I moved on to the 'Last Bar', a place that had twice weekly pool competitions and lots of friendly staff. It was usually full, and I met some cool people. I've never really liked bar scenes before, but this had an entirely different vibe to it.

Since I went during the low season, prices were a lot lower, the beaches were a lot less crowded and more clean, and the bars and restaurants still had plenty of people. For anyone with some flexibility, on a budget, or looking for a slightly lower-key time, I'd say go during low season. The weather is great in patches, but occasionally we'll get a day or two of heavy rain for most of the sunlight hours. When that happens everyone heads for the nearest cover of restaurant or hotel!



Overall though, Railay was an amazing place for me, and perfect after Bangkok. Very very relaxed, no pressure, not much to do but sit on the beach and decide how active you want to be. I'm so happy I got the chance to go and I suggest it as a stop for anyone in Thailand.